The Russian government approved a plan to return to Russia HEU fuel of the IIN-3M research reactor operated by Foton Enterprise. The draft intergovernmental agreement assumes that Russia will return spent HEU fuel of no more than 30 liters of UO2SO4 solution containing 5 kg of U-235. The fuel will be sent to the Mayak plant for reprocessing.
The normal load of the Foton reactor is 4.2 kg of U-235 in 90% HEU in the uranyl sulfate solution. This is the last HEU that remains in Uzbekistan after Russia removed spent fuel of the VVR-SM reactor in 2012. The repatriation of HEU fuel to Russia is undertaken with the assistance of the United States as part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.